CBS CEO Les Moonves Under Investigation for Sexual Misconduct

But four other women claim they were also forcibly kissed or touched by the longtime CBS honcho in business meetings from the 1980s through the late 2000s - and all said their careers suffered after rejecting him.

Since 2004, Moonves has been married to ex-news anchor and Big Brother presenter Julie Chen.

At CBS, he has launched popular prime time television shows such as "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Survivor" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation". The New Yorker article has not yet been published. Last year, Farrow broke the story on the allegations that Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein sexually abused women for decades.

Farrow himself said Friday that everyone might want to take a breath. It closed down 6.1%, at $54.01 a share.

Mr Moonves earned $69.3m (£53m) in 2017 making him one of the highest paid chief executives in the world.

CBS sued Redstone, who owns a controlling 80 percent stake in CBS and Viacom, back in May in an attempt to dilute the power she wields over CBS through her family company, National Amusements.

Moonves is now involved in a lawsuit over control of CBS with Shari Redstone.

The New Yorker is set to publish a bombshell investigation of the head of CBS Corporation that includes allegations of sexual misconduct, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The statement by the USA television network said: "The independent directors of CBS have committed to investigating claims that violate the company's clear policies in that regard". "The Independent Directors of CBS have committed to investigating claims that violate the Company's clear policies in that regard".

The allegations against Moonves involve incidents that go back, in part, more than 20 years, the Hollywood Reporter reported earlier on Friday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter who it did not identify.

The CBS board is split, with the independent members of the board backing Moonves in his quest for more autonomy from Redstone.